It’s 12 December 2025, 11:57 p.m., and somewhere in Johor a makcik taps her phone, scans a glowing QR code at the night market, and walks away with a sizzling stick of satay—no notes, no coins, not even a second thought. Across the region, the same scene repeats millions of times tonight.
This peak 12.12 madness: phones out, carts full of iPhones, sneakers, and K-beauty hauls. ShopeePay flashes red, GrabPay glows green, Touch ’n Go chirps, GCash sings. In Manila traffic, riders pay tolls with a wave; in Jakarta kampungs, warung owners now refuse cash because “QR faster lah.”
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BNPL tempts the young: “Buy that PS5 Slim now, cry in three months.” Bank transfers still rule big-ticket buys in Malaysia and Indonesia, but even grandmas have mastered DuitNow. Cards? Only when the signal dies.
Cash hasn’t vanished—it hides in rural pockets and the auntie who still demands exact change for kuih. Yet this December, the numbers don’t lie: eight out of ten transactions are digital.
Southeast Asia didn’t just go cashless. We threw a month-long party and paid for it with nothing but colorful little squares on our screens. Welcome to the new festive tradition.
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